Chief Inspector Maigret Visits London Page 18
Four days later, when everyone had recovered from these festivities, they all boarded the Eurostar for London. And not only the humans! Brodie came too, along with Louise Maigret, and Rosa, and many of Philippe Maigret’s close colleagues at the Police Nationale, and, of course, Granny Meg’s family. But not, alas, Inky, who had been left at home in SE24 with a dog minder, much to Max’s annoyance: as he put it, ‘Inky should be in Paris for the wedding, because she was the one who found the counterfeit money in the first place, and that just about solved the whole case for the police.’
However, Inky did attend the third wedding, which took place in the lovely church of St Bartholomew in the historic village of Fingest, Buckinghamshire. And so did Chief Inspector Clive Scott, and Sergeant Andy Gillespie, of the Metropolitan police.
Fingest church, although small, is listed as being of exceptional interest, and it was one of Granny Meg’s favourites. In fact, this was the very church she took Philippe Maigret to see on the day they drove into the country for lunch, when they were being followed by the Met police. He had agreed that it was perfect for their third wedding.
He said it was also appropriate because the first ten or twelve priests who served St Bartholomew’s, whose names were printed in gold leaf on a board inside the church, all had French surnames. They were: ‘de this’, and ‘de that’, or ‘d’other’, so Granny said they must have come to England following the Norman Conquest of 1066. The church tower, she pointed out, was most definitely Norman, and was built early in the 12th century. It has a famous west tower which is wider than the narrow nave, the guide book informed visitors, which might mean that the tower was originally used as the nave, and that the present nave was the original chancel. The present chancel is 13th century.13
There is a wedding custom in Fingest that the groom must carry the bride over the church gate when leaving the church after the wedding. The gate is locked to prevent the couple escaping, and the groom must lift his new wife over the gate while family and friends watch. This is meant to bring good luck to the marriage. Philippe was enthusiastic about observing this custom, but Megan wouldn’t allow it: she said she had far too much respect for the well-being of his back to let him even attempt it!
After that ceremony, there was a final party, this time in Oxford, which was followed by a week’s honeymoon at a secret location in Scotland.
And that is the story of how Granny Meg became ‘Granny Maigret’.
Did they live happily ever after, even without observing the lucky Fingest wedding tradition? Well, for most of the time they did.
However that’s really another story.
1 The French name for the Channel
2 Cognito ergo sum: René Descartes, French philosopher 1637
3 Provenance: the history of ownership.
4 Cockney rhyming slang: mate
5 Book of Revelation, chapter 12
War broke out in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: and the dragon fought with his angels, but he lost. And the great dragon was thrown out; that old snake called the Devil and Satan, who lies to the whole world – he was thrown down to earth, and his angels were thrown down with him…
6 Maranatha (Greek) ‘Come, Lord Jesus’
7 The Riot Act of 1715 was abolished in the 1970s. It had allowed the police to break up groups of 12 or more people. If the group did not disperse after the Act was read, lethal force could legally be used against the crowd.
8 A two-way mirror is glass which, on one side shows a reflection, but on the other side functions as a window. It is used to observe people so that they are not aware that they are being watched, and listened to, or who is watching them. Two-way mirrors are common in police stations and other similar places.
9 Free at last, free at last, Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last. The very time I thought I was lost, Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last…
Negro spiritual, from slave period, North America
10 Part of the witches’ spell from Macbeth (William Shakespeare)
11 Dutch courage: Strength or confidence gained from drinking alcohol
12 French – Je ne sais quoi: A quality that cannot easily be described or named.
13 The nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of a church. The chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the east end of a traditional Christian church building.